Food tray having improved lap placement characteristics

ABSTRACT

A food tray includes: a first container defining an interior receptacle space, the first container having an interior surface for supporting a food item and an opposite concave exterior bottom surface for engaging a first thigh of a seated person; a second container defining an interior receptacle space, the second container having an interior bottom surface for supporting another food item and an opposite concave exterior bottom surface for engaging a second thigh of the seated person; and a hinge connecting the first container to the second container and having at least an open configuration and a closed configuration in which the food tray defines a closed container. The interior food-item supporting surfaces have different shaped surfaces in different examples, For example they may be flat and they may have curvatures corresponding to the concave exterior bottom surfaces.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/9345,731, titled “FOOD TRAY HAVING IMPROVED LAP PLACEMENT CHARACTERISTICS,” filed on Feb. 1, 2014, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.

TECHNICAL HELD

The present disclosure relates a food tray for enclosing food and for providing a surface to eat food upon, and more particularly, towards a food tray for use when a person is seated in a vehicle or other situation in which a table surface is not available.

BACKGROUND

There are various food trays and enclosures that are provided for convenience such as when ordering food from a drive-through service. For example, the food products may be individually wrapped and placed into a paper bag for delivery from the restaurant to the consumer. in other instances, the food products may be packaged in a Styrofoam®, paper, corrugated board, or other tray that is configured for being delivered in a closed box and then opened when ready for consumption.

These trays are generally not convenient for a person consuming food products white in transit in a vehicle. For example, the Styrofoam® trays sit on a person's lap and during movement of the vehicle, such as, for example, during cornering, acceleration, or braking, the tray may move around. This represents a situation that is not safe if the driver is distracted by sliding of the tray, and is also messy when food is spilled within the vehicle. As it relates to driving, it has been shown that distracted driving contributes to many traffic incidents.

Accordingly, a method, good, or product that is configured to address these disadvantages is needed.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce in a simplified form concepts that are further described in the following detailed descriptions. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it to be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.

According to at least one embodiment, a food tray includes: first container defining an interior receptacle space, the first container having an interior surface for supporting a food item and an opposite concave exterior surface for engaging a first thigh of a seated person; a second container defining an interior receptacle space, the second container having an interior surface for supporting another food item and an opposite concave exterior bottom surface for engaging a second thigh of the seated person; and a hinge connecting the first container to the second container and having at least an open configuration and a closed configuration in which the food tray defines a closed container.

In at least one example, in the open configuration, the interior surface of the first container and the interior surface of the second container face generally in the same direction.

In at least one example, in the closed configuration, the interior surface of the first container and the interior surface of the second container face each other.

In at least one example, a bridge connects the first container to the second container, the bridge including the hinge and spacing the first container from the second container in the open configuration.

In at least one example, the bridge spaces the first container from the second container in the open configuration by a distance between the first and second thigh of the seated person.

In at least one example, the bridge comprises a generally planar panel that defines at least one opening for receiving food or beverage item.

In at least one example, the tray, the first container, and the second container have the same length.

In at least one example, each of the first container and second container has a respective uniformly thick base that defines the interior surface thereof as convex and opposite the concave exterior surface thereof such that the interior surface and exterior surface have corresponding curvatures.

In at least one example, a radius of curvature of each interior surface differs from a radius of curvature of the corresponding opposite exterior surface by a uniform thickness of the uniformly thick base.

In at least one example, opposing lateral edges of the first and second containers have mutually engaging locking features that maintain the tray in the closed configuration upon engagement.

In at least one example, a tab extends from a lateral edge of the first container to be received and retained in a slot formed through a lateral edge of the second container.

In at least one example, the food tray includes at least one of polystyrene, paper, corrugated paper, and plastic.

In at least one example, the food tray is constructed from a single contiguous panel of consistent material.

In at least one example, the hinge comprises at least one of a fold, crease, crimp, perforation, thinning, scoring, and living hinge.

In at least one example, the first container has a uniformly thick base that defines the interior surface thereof as convex and opposite the concave exterior surface thereof such that the interior surface and exterior surface have corresponding curvatures.

In at least one example, a radius of curvature of the interior surface of the first container differs from a radius of curvature of the corresponding opposite exterior surface by a uniform thickness of the uniformly thick base,

In at least one example, at least one of the first container and second container has a non-uniformly thick base that defines the interior surface thereof as having at least a planar portion opposite the concave exterior surface thereof.

In at least one example, the non-uniformly thick base has at least one central portion and at least one lateral margin that is thicker than the central portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The previous summary and the following detailed descriptions are to be read in view of the drawings, which illustrate particular exemplary embodiments and features as briefly described below. The summary and detailed descriptions, however, are not limited to only those embodiments and features explicitly illustrated.

FIG. 1 is a view of a tray, according to at least one embodiment, in an open configuration.

FIG. 2 is a view of the tray of FIG. 1, in a closed configuration.

FIG. 3 is a view of the tray of FIG. 1 supporting two food items and a beverage on the legs of a seated person.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tray, according to at least one embodiment, in the open configuration.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the tray of FIG. 4 in the lap of a seated person.

FIG. 6 is a view of a tray, according to at least one other embodiment, in an open configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

These descriptions are presented with sufficient details to provide an understanding of one or more particular embodiments of broader inventive subject matters. These descriptions expound upon and exemplify particular features of those particular embodiments without limiting the inventive subject matters to the explicitly described embodiments and features. Considerations in view of these descriptions will likely give rise to additional and similar embodiments and features without departing from the scope of the inventive subject matters.

Any dimensions expressed or implied in the drawings and these descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes. Thus, not all embodiments within the scope of the drawings and these descriptions are made according to such exemplary dimensions. The drawings are not made necessarily to scale. Thus, not all embodiments within the scope of the drawings and these descriptions are made according to the apparent scale of the drawings with regard to relative dimensions in the drawings. However, for each drawing, at least one embodiment is made according to the apparent relative scale of the drawing.

A food tray 10 in one or more embodiments is illustrated throughout the drawings. In at least one embodiment, the food tray 10 is constructed from a single contiguous panel of consistent material. The food tray 10 may be made of any appropriately selected material, including polystyrene (for example Styrofoam®), paper, corrugated paper, plastic, and the like. The food tray 10 may be used in storing, transporting, and serving any of a variety of foods, particularly in situations where a consumer is likely to be sitting without a nearby surface on which to place a plate, tray or other serving article.

The tray 10 includes at least two serving containers, described here as left-side and right-side containers 20 and 30 with reference to placement of the tray 10 upon the lap of a seated dining person. It is to be understood that the dining person may otherwise orient the tray such that distinctions of the containers as left-side and right-side are nominal and tentative according to the preference of the user.

The food tray 10 includes a bridge 40 by which the left-side and right-side containers 20 and 30 are connected. The bridge 40 has at least one hinge-line 42, for example as defined by a fold, crease, crimp, perforation, thinning, scoring, living hinge, or other hinging connection. For the purpose of description, and with reference for example to intuitive terms for a seated dining person (see FIGS. 3 and 5), the hinge-line 42 extends longitudinally, with reference to human legs extending longitudinally. The left-side and right-side containers 20 and 30 are spaced laterally from each other by the width of the bridge 40. In that context, the tray 10 has an overall longitudinal length 12 and width 14 (FIG. 4). In the closed configuration (FIG. 1), the length 12 is maintained but the effective width is approximately halved.

The food tray 10 can assume at least two major configurations according to the disposition of the bridge 40. The bridge 40 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 as open about the hinge-line 42 in the open configuration of the tray 10 for presenting or serving. The bridge 40 is shown in FIG. 2 as closed about the hinge-line 42 in the closed box-like configuration of the tray 10 for storing or transporting.

In the closed configuration of the tray 10, an interior space 16 (FIG. 2) for food storage and transportation is defined by the left-side and right-side containers 20 and 30 that come together in a clam-shell closure arrangement. Thus, a generally interior side 22 is defined for the left-side container 20, and generally exterior side 24 of the left-side container 20 is defined opposite the interior side 22 (FIG. 1). An interior side 32 and exterior side 34 are similarly defined for the right-side container 30. These nominal distinctions as interior and exterior are maintained throughout these descriptions in any configuration of the tray 10, for example as or open (FIG. 1) or close (FIG. 2).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, opposing lateral edges of the left-side and right-side containers 20 and 30 have mutually engaging locking features 21 and 31 that maintain the tray 10 in the closed configuration upon engagement. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the tab 31 extends from the lateral edge of the right-side container 30 to be received and retained in a slot 21 formed through the lateral edge of the left-side container 20 upon closure. Other closure and locking arrangements are within the scope of these descriptions, including snap fit, friction engagement, and other male-female engagement elements.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the left-side container 20 has a base 26 and surrounding perimeter wall 28. From an interior-side 22 perspective, the base 26 illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 has a raised central portion such that the left-side container 20 defines a receptacle space and a smoothly arched or generally convex interior bottom surface. From an exterior-side 24 perspective, the raised central portion of the base 26 defines a longitudinally extending channel-shaped or generally concave thigh-engaging exterior surface 27 for accommodating and engaging the thigh of a seated dining person in the open configuration of the tray 10. The base 26 is illustrated as having a uniform thickness, thus the generally convex interior surface and the generally concave exterior surface have corresponding curvatures, for example radii of curvature different only by the thickness of the base 26 material. In other embodiments, for example as shown in FIG. 6, the base 26 may have a non-uniform thickness such that the exterior surface 27 can be channel-shaped and generally concave for thigh engagement without the interior-side 22 of the base 26 necessarily having curvatures corresponding to the exterior-side 24 surface 27.

In FIGS. 1 and 3, the right-side container 30 has a surrounding perimeter wall 38 and abuse 36, which from an interior-side 32 perspective, has a raised central portion such that the right-side container 30 defines a receptacle space and a smoothly arched and generally convex interior bottom surface. From an exterior-side 34 perspective, the raised central portion of the base 36 defines a longitudinally extending exterior channel-shaped and generally concave thigh-engaging surface 37 for accommodating and engaging the other thigh of a seated dining person in the open configuration of the tray 10. The base 36 is illustrated as having a uniform thickness, thus the generally convex interior surface and the generally concave exterior surface have corresponding curvatures.

Concave and convex in these descriptions refer to having inward and outward arched or bulging curvatures as viewed along at least one perspective, for example as viewed along the longitudinally-extending hinge line 42 in the perspectives of FIGS. 1-3, without necessarily being spherically concave or convex from all perspectives, In that context the thigh-engaging surfaces 27 and 37 are channel-shaped and generally concave without necessarily being spherically concave.

In the open configuration (FIG. 1), the interior bottom surfaces of the containers 20 and 30 face generally in the same direction, depicted as up in FIGS. 3 and 5, and each container defines an upward opening serving receptacle for edibles. In the closed configuration (FIG. 2), the interior bottom surfaces of the containers 20 and 30 face each other, and the tray overall defines a closed container for storage and transportation of edibles.

Advantageously, the bridge 40 has a lateral width that spaces the left-side container 20 from the right-side container 30 to accommodate the upper thighs of a seated person in the channel-shaped thigh-engaging surfaces 27 and 37. When food items are placed in the interior-side receptacle spaces of the left-side container 20 and right-side container 30, for example as shown in FIG. 3 in which a sandwich item and a side-order item such as fries are shown as placed respectively in the containers 20 and 30, the weight of food items are advantageously placed over the person's legs and bearing down upon the legs through the bases 26 and 36. Thus, the weight of food items are supported by the legs and the parallel longitudinally extending channel-shaped and generally concave thigh-engaging exterior surfaces 27 and 37 engage the legs such that the tray 10 is maintained in the lap of the person.

The curvature of each base 26 and 36 may be formed to provide a respective thigh-engaging surface 27 and 37 that is slightly larger than an average human upper thigh, thereby creating some space for movement of the legs or for compensating for persons with larger legs. In one or more embodiments, the thigh engaging surfaces may include a pressure sensitive adhesive that helps to adhere the tray 10 to the person's lap, but does not leave an adhesive residue The surfaces may further include any grip improving material or characteristic, such as a pressure sensitive grip mat and the like.

In the illustrated embodiment, the bridge 40 is formed as a generally planar panel that defines at least one opening 44 (FIGS. 3-4) for receiving a food or beverage item. The opening 44 may be circular as illustrated or may be shaped otherwise to accommodate any shaped item. As such, in the illustrated embodiment, the bridge 40 has at least sufficient length and width to accommodate an opening 44 that receives a soft-drink beverage cup.

Downwardly extending tabs (FIG. 3) extend from the periphery of the opening 44 to engage and help support the food or beverage item received. The tabs 46, which may be materially contiguous with the planar panel portion of the bridge 40, may accordingly correspond in shape to the opening 44.

In FIG. 4, additional openings 48 are shown for receiving additional food, utensil, or condiment items. The openings 44 and 48 may define or receive baskets or other retaining structures or assemblies.

As illustrated, the interior-side 22 receptacle space of the left-side container 20 extends the full length 12 of the tray 10 to accommodate any items a user prefers over a leg when the tray 10 is placed in a lap in the open configuration. Similarly, the interior-side 32 receptacle space of the right-side contain 30 extends the full length 12 as well.

In other embodiment, either or both of the interior-side 22 and 32 receptacle spaces may extend only a portion of the length 12 of the tray 10. In yet other embodiments, multiple left and right-side containers are attached to opposing lateral sides of the bridge 40.

Although the bridge 40 is illustrated as a generally planar panel, the bridge 40 in some embodiments may have an accordion style structure and be extendable from one lateral width to another in order to accommodate people of varying sizes. In this manner, to fit the tray 10 to a larger person, one would pull on opposing lateral ends of the tray 10 to widen the accordion portion to make the tray have an increased width. Additionally, the accordion style structure would allow for the respective leg-engaging portions to not be perfectly parallel in the instance of the user twisting or moving while seated.

FIG. 6 is a view of a tray 102 having features similar to those of the above-described tray 10, such that the above descriptions apply to the tray 102 except where differences are shown in the drawings or described here. In FIG. 6, the base 62 of the left-side container 202 has a non-uniform thickness such that the exterior surface 272 is channel-shaped and generally concave for thigh engagement without the interior-side 222 of the base 262 having curvatures corresponding to the exterior-side 242 surface 272. In the particularly illustrated example, the interior-side 222 of the base 262 is generally flat and planar so as to advantageously balance and support food items placed there without lateral migration by gravity to outer margins. In this arrangement, the base 262 is thicker toward laterally inner and outer margins than in its center, The base 362 of the right-side container 302 in FIG. 6 can be similarly described. FIGS. 1 and 6 together represent that the interior-sides of the bases of trays according to the full scope of these descriptions can have various shapes and features, including those expressly shown and described and others. In other examples, the interior-sides of the bases of trays have multiple wells for receiving and holding separate various food items and condiments, Such arrangements may be beneficial when food items with sauces or other mobile contents are to be kept separate.

Particular embodiments and features have been described with reference to the drawings. It is to be understood that these descriptions are not limited to any single embodiment or any particular set of features, and that similar embodiments and features may arise or modifications and additions may be made without departing from the scope of these descriptions and the spirit of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A food tray comprising: a first container defining an interior receptacle space, the first container having an interior surface for supporting a food item and an opposite concave exterior surface for engaging a first thigh of a seated person; a second container defining an interior receptacle space, the second container having an interior surface for supporting another food item and an opposite concave exterior surface for engaging a second thigh of the seated person; and a hinge connecting the first container to the second container and having at least an open configuration and a closed configuration in which the food tray defines a closed container.
 2. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein, in the open configuration, the interior surface of the first container and the interior surface of the second container face generally in the same direction.
 3. A food tray according to claim 2, wherein, in the closed configuration, the interior surface of the first container and the interior surface of the second container face each other.
 4. A food tray according to claim 1, further comprising a bridge connecting the first container to the second container, the bridge including the hinge and spacing the first container from the second container in the open configuration.
 5. A food tray according to claim 4, wherein the bridge spaces the first container from the second container in the open configuration by a distance between the first and second thigh of the seated person.
 6. A food tray according to claim 4, wherein the bridge comprises a generally planar panel that defines at least one opening for receiving food or beverage item.
 7. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein the tray, the first container, and the second container have the same length.
 8. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein each of the first container and second container has a respective uniformly thick base that defines the interior surface thereof as convex and opposite the concave exterior surface thereof such that the interior surface and exterior surface have corresponding curvatures.
 9. A food tray according to claim 8, wherein a radius of curvature of each interior surface differs from a radius of curvature of the corresponding opposite exterior surface by a uniform thickness of the uniformly thick base.
 10. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein opposing lateral edges of the first and second containers have mutually engaging locking features that maintain the tray in the closed configuration upon engagement.
 11. A food tray according to claim 10, wherein a tab extends from a lateral edge of the first container to be received and retained in a slot formed through a lateral edge of the second container.
 12. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein the food tray comprises at least one of polystyrene, paper, corrugated paper, and plastic.
 13. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein the food tray is constructed from a single contiguous panel of consistent material.
 14. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein the hinge comprises at least one of a fold, crease, crimp, perforation, thinning, scoring, and living hinge.
 15. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein the first container has a uniformly thick base that defines the interior surface thereof as convex and opposite the concave exterior surface thereof such that the interior surface and exterior surface have corresponding curvatures.
 16. A food tray according to claim 15, wherein a radius of curvature of the interior surface of the first container differs from a radius of curvature of the exterior surface thereof by a uniform thickness of the uniformly thick base.
 17. A food tray according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first container and second container has a non-uniformly thick base that defines the interior surface thereof as having at least a planar portion opposite the concave exterior surface thereof.
 18. A food tray according to claim 17, wherein the non-uniformly thick base has at least one central portion and at least one lateral margin that is thicker than the central portion. 